In Friendship's Guise eBook

On Tuesday the unfortunate woman was decently buried,
at Jimmie Drexell’s expense, and on the following
day a more formal inquiry was held at Great Marlborough
street. Jack was there, and he had a brief and
affecting interview with Sir Lucius and Jimmie; he
had previously seen his solicitor at Holloway.
He repeated to the magistrate the story he had told
before, and he was compelled to admit, by the Crown
lawyers, that the murdered woman had been his wife,
that they had lived apart for nearly six years, and
that she had recently prevented him from marrying
another woman. What prompted these damaging questions,
or how the prosecution got hold of the lost letter,
did not appear. Mrs. Rickett positively identified
the prisoner, and medical evidence was taken.
The police stated that they had been unable as yet
to find the missing man, concerning whose existence
they suggested some doubt, and that they had discovered
nothing bearing on the case in the apartments occupied
by either the accused or Diane Merode. Mr. Tenby,
who was suffering from a headache, did little but
watch the proceedings. The inquiry was adjourned,
and John Vernon was remanded in custody for a week.

But much was destined to occur in the interval.
The solicitor had a formidable rival in the person
of Jimmie Drexell. The shrewd American, keeping
eyes and ears open, had formed suspicions in regard
to the principal witness for the Crown. And he
lost no time in making the most of his clew, wild
and improbable as it seemed.

CHAPTER XXVII.

AN AMATEUR DETECTIVE.

On the day of the inquiry at Great Marlborough street,
about five o’clock in the afternoon, Jimmie
Drexell walked slowly and thoughtfully up the Quadrant.
The weather had turned cold, and his top hat and fur-lined
coat gave him the appearance of an actor in luck.
He was bound on a peculiar errand, and though he hoped
to succeed, he was not blind to the fact that the
odds were very much against him.

“I shall probably put my foot in it somehow,”
he reflected dolefully, “and make a mess of
the thing. But if I fail, it won’t convince
me that I am wrong. I had my eye on that woman
in court, and she was certainly keeping something
back. She seemed confused—­in dread
of some question that was never asked. And once
or twice I thought she was on the point of making
some startling revelation. I must play a cunning
game, for poor old Jack’s sake. If Mrs.
Rickett can’t save him, and the police don’t
find the mysterious stranger, I’m afraid he will
be in a devilish bad way.”

Jimmie turned into Beak street, and pulled the bell
of Number 324. He waited several minutes before
the landlady came, and then she opened the door but
a couple of inches, and peered distrustfully out.
Jimmie craftily thrust a foot in, so that the door
could not be closed.

“You do not know me, madam,” he said,
“but I come as a friend. I wish to have
a short conversation with you.”